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Cinder was glad to be a part of the tradition, and wondering what more traditions there were, and how much these humans could drink, they stared down at their glass several moments trying to decide what to do with it. Drinking it would be....bad, but then, who were they to break with tradition? Reluctantly, they slowly brought the glass to their lips as everyone else had, and struggled to down it with a twisted face, eventually getting it all down. Their body clearly attempted to reject it as they brought down their glass and set it on the table nearby, shuddering a second time now at the feeling of drinking the liquid.

Recovering, Cinder looks to Gabriela, and weakly asks a simple question, "Is that the last drinking tradition?"

Stepping into the venue midway through the toast was another guest. A man - tall, dark, smartly dressed, and seemingly human, apart from his striking gold eyes. He chuckled as he took in the crowd forming around the buffet, a few of which seemed to be dripping with punch. A curious cast of characters to be sure, and many clearly alien or mechanical in some way.

"Well now, ain't this a party?" he said with a grin, strolling in casually.

He tips back his head and downs his glass. Significantly more relaxed now, he flashes a grin at the hostess, Yll'r and Zeno all one at a time. "I most sincerely wish that these toasts come true for all of you."

He pauses as the lights surge, the room glows a bright, sickeningly energized yellow, for but a moment- he never sees who or what causes it, but the environmental change re-grounds him and reminds him of something kind of...important.

He retrieves his journal- there's another new message:

How are you holding up?"

He summons the quill he needs to write back.

Quite alright, love. This event is certainly interesting.

I'm happy to hear it, and I apologize if you're in the middle of something, but the gate is going to close soon.

Mild panic warps his features ever so briefly and he hastily writes back:

Right. I'm on my way, see you soon.

He snaps the journal shut and turns to address his company. "It has indeed been a pleasure, but I best be on my way. The, uh, the method I used to reach you operates on a rather tight time limit." He laughs, "My husband might kill me if I strand myself out here."

"Choresh Eldravyn, by the way," he adds, "...is my name. Ah, I don't imagine we'll meet again, but in any case, I feel that may be important to share. Do enjoy the rest of the party!"

He bids them all farewell with a polite half-bow and a wave of his hand before turning on his heels and rushing out of the venue.

Zeno could not, and would not, down his drink. But fortunately, a new guest had arrived. Perhaps they could join in the fun?

He smiled, trying his best to seem as not-creepy as possible, before offering his glass to Maverick after slowly approaching. "Welcome to the venue. Care for a drink? We just had a toast, but sadly I cannot drink the punch myself... Internal limitations. It's alcoholic, for your information. I hope that's alright with you."

"To companionship," echoes Gabriela, taking a final sip. Then she sheepishly grabs a napkin, dips it in a glass of water, and starts trying to clean up the sticky punch on her face. "Is that the last drinking tradition? Uh, well... we have many others, but most are meant for a much smaller and more informal group. So I think that will be that last one that we do here," she says to Cinder. Not only does she not want to teach this alien crowd drinking games, she's not sure she'll survive the embarrassment of trying to keep up with the weird modifications they'd come up with for them! One punch bath a day is quite enough for her.

At the sudden pulse of energy, she looks around in confusion. "Hey, what are you doing to my station?"

Choresh gets another quick bow, sweeping her arm across herself. "I'm honored that you joined us for any length of time, friend. I hope to see you on Radiance again soon."

Zeno watches as Choresh gave his toast, introduced himself, and proceeded to take his leave. "Pleasure to meet you. I do hope we meet again someday, human. Farewell!"

While Cinder seems distressed at the swallowing of alien liquids, the burst of light seems to do them some good. They stand more upright and their face returns to a normal expression, having offered a hunch and the look of disgust beforehand.

"I'm glad for that," Cinder says to Gabriella, though talking as though to themselves.

Remembering what etiquette they had picked up on during their research, Yll'r turned to wave a tentacle toward Choresh.

A woman seemed to step from the shadows as the well dressed man bid his farewell. She nodded to him, expression almost stoic. It almost looked as if she couldn’t shake the bearings of a soldier. Her clothing was all as black as the long mask which covered her nose. A two piece earring was linked by jewelry chain from the upper to the lower part of her ear.

The woman looked human to those who didn’t recognize her jewelry. Of course the mask hid the prominent ridges on the humanoid’s nose. She tried to sneakily take a cup of punch without being seen, watching the mechanical beings with their tricks and abilities. Although she felt a little anxious, it did feel good to get away from her work. This was definitely an interesting station to spend shore leave before her transfer assignment.

She approached the punch bowl and prepared to try serving herself quietly.

"Ha!" Kolt half-shouted, looking around in amazement as the lights around the venue began to increase, the slight charge of electricity to the air causing his hair to stand on end. The glow seemed almost warm--nothing like the cool lights they had back home. "That's incredible!"

As Gabriella took notice of the energy pulse, he instinctively took hold of Cryostryker and pulled it back down. "Sorry, Ma'am, we were only--Oooh, is that punch?" he asked, taking notice of the new non-alcoholic bowl behind her. Without exactly... stopping to ask for permission, he took one of the glasses beside the bowl, taking a scoop for himself and raising it to his lips.

It was sweet instead of spicy like in Aedard, and he liked the way it tingled on his tongue. But he imagined it would taste even better chilled. He lifted the hand that held Cryostriker, shooting a tiny ice crystal from the tip. It then made a small explosion inside the glass, freezing the punch to a slushie-like consistency.

"Oh, right--I forgot again!" he exclaimed, returning to a spot somewhere between Leroy and Gabriella. "Might I ask both your names?"

Maverick gave Zeno a charming smile, and tipped his black cowboy hat at the gesture, taking the glass from him. "It's mighty fine with me. This ain't my usual fare, but I'm happy to help a fella out."

It seemed the newcomer was quite comfortable with large, inhuman creatures and their unique needs, but his accent placed him far from here. Somewhere from Earth perhaps?

"Seems I arrived at the right time. Name's Maverick. Yours?"

The mech stood tall and proudly said to Kolt, "Leroy Valentine is the name I've chosen for myself. You may call me either of them."

With much haste mister Marcus entered the room at speed. He had been late due to having to sort out a contract payment. being the financially minded fellow he was. he merely elected to wear his power armor, helmet included to the party rather than buy a fancy mask. red lenses staring out across the expanse., "I'm not too late am i?" he would state, his voice filtered through a semi static laced speaker. he had needed a break and if he had missed out because a certain client had a not so bright idea he'd be upset

It seemed Gabriela was managing to clean all the excess punch off herself just in time for a flood of new arrivals. She smiles around, beckoning for them all to approach the buffet table instead of hanging around in the entryway. "Welcome, welcome! No, you're not too late at all, in fact we're still just getting warmed up. I'm Gabriela Estrella, pumped you could join us here on Radiance."

Zeno seemed awfully touched that the human happily took the glass. It wasn't often he encountered humans that weren't entirely scared of him.
Needless to say, the biomechanical beast was starting to feel a tad more welcome.

"Wonderful to meet you, Maverick," He chuffed. "Please, call me Zeno."